July 26, 2010

As promised, below are interviews with Misha Collins, Jared Padalecki, Eric Kripke, Jim Beaver and Sera Gamble from the "Supernatural" press room at Comic-Con, plus a brief summary of the show's Sunday panel. Scattered through this post are photos of Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and other "Supernatural" folks at the panel and signing posters at the convention.

This Sunday blog post has the complete audio of the "Supernatural" panel, which was a lot of fun, as you may be able to tell from the recording and my tweets during the session. But amid the joking around, the audience got some insight into where Season 6 will begin. [Mild spoilers ahead]. Via the panel and interviews, we learned that the new season will begin about a year after the events of the Season 5 finale, and we'll find out how Dean, who has been with Lisa and her son for that year, gets back into the hunting life.

Things are in chaos in heaven and Misha Collins said that Castiel is not primarily helping the guys as much as he is trying to mop up the mess among the angels. Bobby is still around and there was a clip from the fourth episode of the season (which Jensen Ackles directed) in which he and Crowley sparred over the deal for Bobby's soul. Bobby thinks that since they defeated Lucifer, the deal's off, but not surprisingly, Crowley doesn't agree. It sounds as though Crowley's around a fair amount this season and that's terrific, because I love the vibe that Jim Beaver and Mark Sheppard have in their scenes (though on the panel, Jim was adamant that there would be no more kissing between them).

There is an overall arc this season: "Supernatural" is getting back to the central concept of the boys hunting monsters each week, but they're different and that's reflected in their journey. And the monster-hunting is tied into the season's mythology; it's back to basics "with a twist" was the phrase heard in the Comic-Con press room.

A few final notes before I get to the interviews: The gag reel that was shown at Comic-Con and that will be on the Season 5 DVD set is very, very funny; also on that Season 5 DVD set is the "Ghostfacers" Web series (how great is that? You should definitely watch that series if you haven't yet); and finally, there were a ton of bloggers and reporters in the press room, and the invaluable Superwiki has collected many of the Winchester-related Comic-Con report that are out there.

A note about these interviews: I conducted a few of these solo, but for some, Charlie Jane Anders from io9 and Brian Ford Sullivan from The Futon Critic (my very cool partners in crime in the "Supernatural" press room) were quizzing the interviewees as well. Also, one Misha video is from a Tribune-family colleague, Catalina Walsh.

Comments

Ah wow, I can't wait to watch season six now! It seemed like so long to wait after the S5 finale, now it's almost here! :D

Mo - thanks for making all these videos and doing so many awesome interviews, your comic con coverage has made this fan very happy! You must have been stupidly busy all weekend, and it is definitely appreciated... I will probably never be able to go to SDCC (stuck in the UK!) but I've spent a large part of the weekend catching up thanks to your regular updates!

I do have one question though, does the audio recording of the full panel only work in the US? I can't get it to open and couldn't make the 'Chuck' one work yesterday either, if it's US only I'll stop trying! :)

Were you able to catch the trailer for Caprica? It's online now and is extraordinary! Now if only NBC will use it as an ad for Caprica's January return (perhaps braving the possibility that it will be to their own programming's detriment), I think everyone in the "18-34 demographic" would watch at least one episode. It's that exciting, and aimed at that age group. Just because Starbuck has moved on doesn't mean there aren't other strong women in that universe!

Kripke is an amazing interviewee...he's got so much to say and he explains things so well. I love his passion...and I got what every he was selling in swan song..I loved it. It was epic and I was so proud to be a SN fan.

I would have loved to talk to Ben Edlund and Jensen, but there wasn't enough time in the press room.

Basically, in the hour that the cast and producers were in the room, there was an attempt to make sure that every media person got to talk to every actor and producer. Time ran out before Jensen and Ben got to the place where I was conducting my interviews. I would have loved to have talked to them, but that's how it is in many press rooms at Comic-Con -- sometimes you don't get to talk to everyone from a particular show. Ah well. It's part of the deal at the madness that is Comic-Con.

UPDATE: OK, a colleague from Zap2it.com was in the Supernatural press room and was able to speak to Jensen -- so please find that video added above.

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